Delhi decides on dedicated engineering cadre for PWD

The engineering arm of the Delhi PWD currently comprises 3,214 sanctioned posts across 36 categories, all belonging to the CPWD cadre

New Delhi

Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the move is a long-awaited structural reform that will accelerate the development and infrastructure projects. (Representative photo)

The Delhi government has decided to create a separate engineering cadre for the Public Works Department (PWD) to increase the accountability of engineers working in Delhi and reduce the dependence on Central PWD (CPWD), the government said on Wednesday, a day after the decision was taken in a cabinet meeting.

The engineering arm of the Delhi PWD currently comprises 3,214 sanctioned posts across 36 categories, all belonging to the CPWD cadre, with appointments made by the central government. The government has announced the formation of a high-level committee to design the structure and functioning of the new cadre. In the initial phase, CPWD officers willing to join will be accommodated. If the required strength is not met, alternative recruitment mechanisms will be adopted based on the committee’s recommendations, subject to approval by the competent authority, the government said.

Chief Minister Rekha Gupta said the move is a long-awaited structural reform that will accelerate the development and infrastructure projects. “Until now, the Delhi PWD did not have its own independent engineering cadre. The department’s engineering services were entirely dependent on the Central Public Works Department (CPWD) cadre. All 3,214 engineering posts belong to CPWD cadre with appointments by the central government. This arrangement often slowed down the pace of work under the Delhi government and created challenges in taking timely administrative and developmental decisions.”

The chief minister said that the government plans to accelerate the pace of creating new infrastructure, such as a state-of-the-art Secretariat, mini-secretariats in all 11 districts, mandis (wholesale markets), sports complexes, and other administrative facilities. “This would only be possible if Delhi has its own engineering cadre. For the past 30 years, no decision was taken on this critical matter. That is why the cabinet has now approved the creation of a separate cadre for engineers,” CM Gupta said.

Officials with the CM’s office said that with a separate cadre, the Delhi government will have the authority to recruit engineers independently and fill vacant posts without delay. “This will not only make the government self-reliant in engineering services but will also help build a specialised, locally experienced, and long-term committed engineering workforce,” a CMO official said.

Gupta said that the most important outcome would be accountability. “Until now, accountability was not clearly fixed, and in cases of irregularities, engineers often managed to escape responsibility through transfers. That will no longer be the case. The Delhi government will now create its own institutional framework. Once engineers are appointed directly under the Delhi government, developmental works will be carried out with greater transparency, and accountability,” Gupta said.